Love and Hate
by Team-Edward-addict
Summary: Post From Dead to Worse. Eric still hasn't called Sookie and as a result Sookie's life is falling into a slump. Will they realize their true feelings or will the Fellowship of the Sun come between them first? And what does the king have in store?
1. Shreveport

A/N: Okay so this is my first solo story and I really want reviews to tell me how I'm going. Flames are welcome at any time (yes I'm a freak that likes flames, they help me.)  
*WARNING* I might take a while to update so don't expect them as quick as some authors are capable of. My computer broke and until I get a new one updates will be slow.

Don't worry I won't always have long A/N's I know how they annoy me! Thankyou for reading. I hope you like it and please don't forget to review.

P.S. I do not own any of the characters they are all Charlaine Harris' I just felt like borrowing them.

(This Story is set after From Dead To Worse)

Team-Edward-addict

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Chapter one- Shreveport

SPOV

I woke today with a sigh and his name on my lips. _'Two months'_ was my first thought, _'two whole months and I still haven't heard from him.' _The last time I had seen him was in Merlotte's when he had come in to announce that he and Pam were now personally responsible for my safety.

"Eric" I whispered his name as if saying it out loud would at least make him call. I immediately chided myself for my foolish actions and thoughts. This was stupid, I was being stupid, I mean he was the one that hadn't called me for two months for absolutely no reason at all, and well if he was going to ignore me then I wasn't going to seem all desperate and needy by calling him. Wait 'desperate and needy' where had that come from it wasn't like he was a potential suitor or something; it was all this damn blood-bond making me feel things that aren't really there. Besides it's not like he could show up now, the sun's out.

I rolled over onto my side and looked to my bedside table, shielding my eyes from the blinding light of the sun that was cascading into the room through the window. I focused on the faint glow emanating from my bedside clock 2:00pm! Wow had I slept in or what! Well I guess that's what I get for working the late shift at Merlotte's last night, at least today was my day off so I didn't need to rush anywhere. But I decided that it was too late to still be asleep and dragged myself out of bed and into the hot spray of the shower. This was what I needed, I could feel the burning hot water loosening my muscles one by one and I remembered a time when I wasn't the only one in this shower.

The memory was still crystal clear in my head as if it were only last night that it had happened. I remembered the feel of his hands gliding over my naked body and the feel of his perfectly sculpted chest as I washed him. I remembered every kiss...every touch... "Damn it" I cursed, couldn't I have just one shower without that memory. Stupid blood-bond.

I quickly finished my shower, got dressed for the day and wandered out to the kitchen hoping to find Amelia and something to eat. I was in luck, I found Amelia scrubbing the counter, and sitting on top of the microwave was a few slices of pizza left over from Octavia's dinner last night. My mouth watered at the sight of food.

"Hey sleepyhead" Amelia greeted me pausing for a moment "I was wondering when you were going to wake up. You must have worked real late last night huh?"

"Yeah" I replied, hearing my joints pop as I stretched my arms above my head. "Our football team won so everybody was at Merlotte's celebrating." Amelia returned to her cleaning as I placed the pizza slices into the microwave to heat them up. "You know you really don't have to do that Amelia, I could clean it." I said gesturing towards the soapy sponge in her hand.

"You don't have to do all the chores Sookie. I live here too, I think I ought to help out" Amelia replied "Besides you worked all night, let me do it."

"Fine" I sighed, defeated. I heard the microwave beep letting me know that my pizza was ready so I spun around, snatched it out of the microwave and began eating. "Hey Amelia, you want to go to Shreveport with me today?" I managed to mumble in-between bites.

"Sure...but why?"

"Ahh..." The truth was that I didn't really know why I wanted to go to Shreveport, I just did. I clenched my jaw as I realised what it was, it was that damn blood-bond again, pulling me to him. But I'd said it now so I had to go to Shreveport. Amelia was staring at me expectantly, waiting for my answer. "To go shopping" I offered and it sounded almost like a question.

"Sure" she answered her eyes lighting up. Amelia got excited at pretty much any opportunity to shop, she loved it though I really didn't see the attraction. "I'm pretty much finished here so I'll just go wash up and then we can go okay?"

"Alright" I said, beginning to think that maybe this might be a good thing, it would give me something to do today. So I finished my pizza, grabbed my purse, sunglasses and keys, and slipped on a pair of flip-flops and met Amelia at the door.

The drive to Shreveport was uneventful but the closer we got the more I began to feel a growing sense of anticipation at what I wasn't really sure. Surprisingly the shopping was quite relaxing, there wasn't much to choose from but I still managed to find a gorgeous baby blue halter-neck sun dress that came to my knees and a beautiful black, silk wrap. Amelia bought so much that at one stage I didn't think that we would fit it all into the car. By the time she had finished shopping it was almost 7:00pm and my feet were killing me, after all we had wandered around for nearly four and a half hours. My stomach rumbled audibly.

"Hey Amelia I'm hungry. How about we get something to eat?" I suggested only just beginning to realise how hungry I really was.

"Okay. Ooh how about that new restaurant that just opened up down the street? I think it's called 'Cecilia's' or something." Amelia grinned.

"Yeah! I've been wanting to try that place for a while now" I smiled "Let's go" I said successfully managing to close the car door on her unbelievable amount of purchases and walking down the street to the suave new restaurant in town with Amelia in tow.

***

"Sookie" Amelia said with sudden importance. I knew what was coming, she had been trying to think of an appropriate moment to bring it up all day, but when she had finally decided to broach the subject I wasn't expecting it. I was too distracted by the beauty of the restaurant surrounding me. The entire place was done in white and red, the walls had been painted a warm and inviting red with white trim around the edges, the tablecloths were pure white, as were the stairs leading up to the reservations section. There were two of the dual staircases on each side of the room going to the reservations area each lined with a thin gold banister. Now I know what you're thinking (no pun intended), this place sounds expensive, how could I possibly afford it? Well honestly it might sound that way but it's not. That's the best thing about it.

"Sookie?" Amelia repeated snapping me out of my thoughts. I sighed and figured that I had better get this over with.

"What is it Amelia?" I asked flicking my eyes to her as she pushed her plate (containing a small amount of unfinished chicken) away from her.

"Well...I don't mean to pry and I'm only trying to help but..." she hesitated trying to find the right way to say it, without offending me. "You seem kind of down latley, and distracted and I was wondering if maybe it was because of..." she trailed off afraid of what my reaction might be.

"Amelia don't - I mean it's not...just don't." I said exasperatedly, leaning my head in my hand and reinforcing my mental shields not wanting to hear any more of Amelia's thoughts. She furrowed her brow in confusion but then realization flashed in her eyes as she figured out that I had 'heard' her.

"Sookie I thought - no I hoped that you would snap out of it after a few weeks, a month even, but hon it's been two months. The only thing that I can think of that happened two months ago to cause this is that, that was the last time you-"

"Amelia don't be silly" I interrupted her, denying her accusation.

"I know it's been...complicated between you two, especially since he remembered your time together. Then you dated Quinn and I think that you might have...you know hurt him." At that moment I lost control of my mental shields and I could 'hear' that Amelia was trying to say this as gently as possible and she really did think that I had 'hurt Eric's feelings'.

"Are you serious? You think that I 'hurt Eric's feelings'" I quoted laughing darkly "I don't think Eric has feelings." Amelia looked almost shocked at my words and and scrunched up her face a little, exactly the way she does when she's frustrated as I struggled to put my shields back in place.

"Sookie you're wrong! Okay so I wasn't there for it all but from what you've told me and what I've heard, he's always been there for you whether you wanted him to be or not." Her words came out in a torrent and as much as I hated to admit it I knew she was right. About Eric being there I mean, not about him having feelings. "I mean look at everything he's done for you. Correct me if I'm wrong but even when he barley knew you he staked another vampire to save you, a vampire that he had thought he could trust. Then he saved you from the maenad by agreeing to go to that orgy so he could protect you!"

"He just wanted to get into my pants! And he did and now that he remembers he's lost interest" I retorted, not really realizing that possibility until I had said it, and now that I had it made complete and total sense. I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it until just then.

"Do you really think that he would go that far just to get you into bed?" Amelia asked

"Well I wouldn't put it past him" I answered truthfully.

"Well what about when he risked everything and followed you to Dallas even though he didn't need to and it could have got him killed?" Amelia continued her onslaught without pausing for breath. "And how about the time he went with you to rescue Bill and was the only one who stayed with you when you got staked. Sookie he could have gotten himself killed then too. He did it because he cares about you!"

"No!" I practically yelled, causing all of the other people in the restaurant to turn and stare at us. So I lowered my voice and admitted the truth to Amelia. "The only time I think he really cared about me was when he couldn't remember who he was." I lowered my eyes to the table and fidgeted with the napkin in my hands. A change in Amelia's thoughts was the only thing that alerted me that she was about to drop what she considered to be a 'bombshell' on me.

"Sookie the only reason he surrendered at the take-over was he knew that if he didn't you would most likely get hurt." She blurted out before I even had a chance to react to the change in her thoughts.

"What?!" I spluttered, staring at her completely stunned. There was no way she could be telling the truth, Eric wouldn't do that. He surrendered because it was the only thing he could do...right?

"Sookie, it's the truth." Amelia interrupted my frantic thoughts.

"How would you know if it's the truth or not?" I asked trying desperately to find where she had gotten her information wrong.

"Well don't say anything but Pam kind of told me" she answered slightly reluctantly.

"And how the hell would she know?"

"Eric is her maker" she said, rolling her eyes at the obviousness of the answer. "That means she knows things about Eric. Sookie everyone but you can see how he feels."

I just sat there staring at Amelia, mouth agape and stunned into silence. With my thoughts and emotions a tangled mess and suddenly I knew what I needed to do.

"Amelia I...I have to go. I'm sorry" I hurriedly put the money for my half of the bill and a little extra for her to get a cab onto the table and snatched up my purse. "Sorry" I repeated with an apologetic look in Amelia's direction and rushed out of the restaurant, thankful that it was already dark outside. I jumped into my car and drove the few blocks to my destination in a haze.


	2. The pieces of my heart

**IMPORTANT A/N: **Okay, okay so I know that I said I wouldn't be leaving long authors notes but I really feel that this one is necessary. I know that this chapter is really short but it just didn't want to be any longer, trust me I tried. And I know that it is most definetley flame-worthy but please don't stop reading it! This is just needed for the story-line. Don't worry it is most definetley going somewhere...they just need to get there first.

P.S. I was astounded by the amount of responses to the first chapter, whether they be story alerts, additions to favourite story/author etc. And thankyou to those who reviewed but I really, really want more (greedy I know) so PLEASE review!

Thanks

Team-Edward-addict

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Chapter 2 - The pieces of my heart

EPOV

Upon waking from my daytime rest I was pulled onto an emotional rollercoaster. I could feel confusion, anger, dissapointment, grief, exhaustion, emotional pain, longing and another emotion I was unable to identify, they all came crashing into me at once and it left me feeling slightly disoriented. I struggled throught the unbearable emotions bombarding me to find the source. The blood-bond. Sookie! I focused on the bond and felt that she was close, in Shreveport in fact but she didn't seem to be in any kind of physical pain. Besides it's not like I could go to her now, I had already distanced myself from her and for a reason. I couldn't just forget that now and run to her just because she was having a bad day! But oh how I wished I could be there with her right then. I had never longed for any other human the way I longed for my Sookie, I craved her. Not in over one thousand years had I felt so...so...human, it was unsettling, especially now that the memories of my time with her when I was cursed had returned to me, and I remembered everything. I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face at that thought, she had finally yeilded to me. Even if it was to a me that wasn't really me. Never-the-less she had surrendered herself to me and finally given in to what she had wanted. The sex was the part I enjoyed remembering, the...feelings...not so much. The fact that they existed at all is almost frightening, and that the still linger is even more so. _'Stop'_ I thought banishing all thoughts of emotions from my head and moving towards my bathroom to shower and prepare to go to Fangtasia.

The emotional whirlwind continued all the way to Fangtaisia and my efforts to block the bond only just worked enough to allow me to concentrate on the paperwork sitting in front of me on my desk. I attempted to work but my mind once again wandered to my bonded and my memories of her, naked, underneath me and I found myself becoming hard and...frustrated. Simultaneously I sensed my bonded getting closer...

***

SPOV

I pulled up out the front of Fangtasia, unsure if I was still welcome around the back at the employee entrance. I sat in the car for a few minutes, warring with myself, trying to work up the courage to go in there and face him. Finally I forced myself to get out of the car and walk towards the door, I groaned in frustration the second I saw Pam working the door. _'Maybe I could still go around back' _I thought but the second I changed direction she looked up and honest to god smirked at me! Of course she would be enjoying this! Don't get me wrong for a vampire Pam's not really that bad, I consider her my friend but sometimes she can be a little pushy. (Especially when it comes to Eric and I)

"Hello Sookie, this is a pleasant surprise" she grinned and it seemed like she really was pleased to see me. Maybe she was...well at least I'd like to think so.

"I'm here to see Eric" I stated wanting to do this before I chickened out.

"It's about time you came to your senses, Eric has been...bad for business latley." She said, ushering me in through the door and past the bar patrons, towards Eric's office. All of the sudden my rage overtook me, I mean who was he to make me feel this way, I had a right to be angry. He had used me and left me behind, I was nothing to him but yet another notch in his eternal bedpost. That was it I snapped, now he had to answer to me!

I barged into his office in a fit of rage, I knew that Pam had followed me in but right then I didn't care who I disgraced him in front of.

"I have a problem" I spat out at Eric, raising my head to see him sitting behind his desk, his elbows resting on it and his fingers pented in front of his rock-hard, chiseled chest, each muscle visible due to the tight, black T-shirt stretched over them. His long blonde hair left untied to rest on his shoulders and his ice-blue eyes appraising me carefully, and I might have imagined it but I thought I saw...longing in them. Yeah I probably imagined it.

"A problem?" He asked, his emotionless voice bringing me back to reality.

"Yeah, wanna know what it is?" I snapped, man that sounded lame. He didn't even answer me, he just raised one eyebrow questioningly and lowered his hands to rest them on the desk. "You!" I yelled.

"Me?" he questioned looking genuinley surprised.

"Yes you! It's been two months! Two fucking months and I've been going insane waiting for...for...NOTHING!" I screamed, traitor tears threatening to brim over.

"Two months?" His voice was strained but he actually seemed confused.

"You...you don't even know. Do you?" The tears fell and when he didn't answer my heart shattered into a million irreparable pieces.

***

EPOV

__

'Of course I know!'

I wanted to shout but somehow I managed to contain myself...just. Then when I didn't answer, even though the bond was closed I felt her heart break, and mine along with it. She stared at me for a second more and then ran out of the room, her tears streaking down her face and falling behind her, unable to resist the pull of gravity.

"Why didn't you tell her?" Pam hissed

"I do not know what you are talking about" I lied, badly.

"Eric now is not the time for your stubborness. She practically told you she loves you! I'll never get her to do that again!" Pam sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Pamela! You. Will. Not. Interfere." I said, reminding my child who the master was in this relationship. "The further she is from us then the safer she will be." I admitted whilst attempting to keep the bond closed off.

"You can't be serious. You're doing this so you don't hurt her?" She snorted "You just destroyed her Eric and I don't think that she can be put back together this time." She gave me a meaningful look and left my office. I couldn't bring myself to punish her for speaking to me that way, it had almost killed me to feign ignorance and when I had the look in Sookie's eyes, and the feel of both our hearts breaking, it was excruciating. A pain that I hope to never experience again, but I couldn't fix this now, besides it was what Sookie had wanted, wasn't it? To stay out of vampire politics? She couldn't do that if we were together. The more she was around vampires, the bigger the target would be that was painted on her. This was for her own good. I reached up and brushed my hand across my cheek to rid myself of an almost tickling sensation there and when I brought my hand away it was smeared with a bloody tear. I quickly wiped it away and prayed that Pam was wrong, and that somehow Sookie's heart could be repaired, that one day my lover could be happy, even if it was...without me.


	3. The mystery man

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long but I did warn you at the start of the story that updates would be slow until I got a new computer. Bad news is that Eric and I disagreed on this chapter but we eventually worked it out, just keep in mind that it might be a little weird because of it. Good news is I just got a new laptop and soon it will be fully operational (I still have to make a few adjustments though). And thank-you for all the support I have received for this story i really appreciate it!

Don't forget to R&R!!

Okay enough rambling...Enjoy!

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Chapter 3- The mystery man

SPOV

"Sookie can I come in?" I heard Amelia ask, knocking softly on my bedroom door. She quietly slipped into my room, not waiting for me to answer, she knew that if she had let me that I would have said no. She sat down on the bed beside me and I curled in on myself even more, I didn't know if I could deal with her right now, especially her thoughts, they were practically impossible to block out. And of course those thoughts just had to be about Eric and I. It was bad enough that Amelia had seen me like this but for her to know that it was Eric that had caused it was just shameful because if she knew then that would mean that soon enough Tray would know, then pretty much all shifters and Were's in the area would know, and eventually a vampire was bound to find out and it would undoubtedly get back to Eric and he would know...everything...damn.

"Sook are you okay?" Amelia asked softly.

"Of course I...I'm fine" I answered whilst wiping my face and sitting up in bed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well I don't know what happened last night since you refuse to tell me but I can tell it wasn't good, otherwise you wouldn't have spent all day in bed" she pointed out.

"Yeah well don't you worry about me." I said attempting to convince her that I was okay. "How about you go and fetch Octavia from the garden and we can get something to eat, I think there's some leftover gumbo in the fridge..." I trailed off. I was tired of trying to keep my shields up, I'd been struggling all day but somehow I had managed to do it perhaps it was through sheer force of will.

"Octavia?" She looked thoroughly confused, "She's not in the garden. She left for New Orleans last night to visit family" she explained.

"What?" I asked, now it was my turn to be totally confused, but then it dawned on me. "...Oh no. Amelia lock the doors" I ordered in a frenzy, dropping the mental shields that I had worked so hard to maintain all day and I heard the mind that I had assumed was Octavia's thinking about...flowers? Well that explains why I thought it was Octavia gardening. But why would an unfamiliar person be lurking around my house thinking about my garden of all things? Oh well at least they were human...I think.

"Sookie what is it? Maybe I can cast a spell" Amelia whispered re-entering the room after locking everything.

"I'm not quite sure...it's weird." I replied and cast a mental net around the house and a little into the woods. I gasped and practically jumped off of the bed at what I found.

"What? What is it?" Amelia fretted. I ignored her and scurried out to the front of the house and snatched the Benelli out of the closet by the front door, and clicking off the safety I began to explain the situation to Amelia.

"There is one person...human I think in the garden just outside my bedroom window. They seem to know I'm telepathic because they're thinking of the flowers surrounding them but I know that they are there to watch me..." I hesitated wondering if I should tell Amelia the entire truth of the situation, of how I knew that they were after me, of the others lying in wait, of what they wanted me for and of who they were. I couldn't even call anyone because I wasn't dragging Sam into my shit anymore, he deserved better, I couldn't ask Alcide, he was too far away, Jason...I still wasn't talking to, and it was the middle of the day so it didn't look like any vampires were about to come to my rescue. Even if it wasn't sunny outside what vamp would come? Bill was in Europe working on his database and Eric...I sighed pushing all thoughts of Eric to the back of my mind before it became to painful.

But it didn't matter because in the next second there was a gunshot and the front window of the house shattered. Amelia began to panic but I had been through enough of this shit to remain calm. So I moved as quickly and silently as I could towards the broken window as I could, cocked my gun and took aim. Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm not exactly the kind of person that can hit a bulls eye from a mile away but I had a little experience with guns, mostly from watching Jason go hunting and when my father was alive he hunted a bit. I don't remember him much but just knowing that he had known how to handle a gun made me feel a little more confident.

Another gunshot sounded and Amelia ducked for cover whilst I tried to get a good view of the mystery man firing at me. I took a guess at where I thought he would be and returned fire. The cycle continued for a while, the gunman and I firing shot after shot at each other while I got more and more nervous every time. Honestly I might have sounded cool, calm and collected but I was scared out of my skin, no matter how many times you do it it's still frightening. I was so focused on the shots coming in through the window that I didn't notice when Amelia went silent.

I knelt up at the window after reloading the Benelli and then...everything went black.

***

EPOV

I woke from my daytime slumber with a sense of longing...for my bonded. I reached out to her through the bond as a force of habit but stopped when I hit a mental wall, a wall that I had constructed to keep the bond closed. After last night when Sookie came into Fangtasia things were difficult. Sookie's emotions were strong and tortured, and mine were...distracting, to say the least. Pam insisted that she was right and that I should run to Sookie in an attempt to repair our 'relationship', but I had Sookie's best interests at heart, I was keeping her safe. At that moment my cell phone rang, I growled and snatched it up, 'PAM' the screen flashed. The last person I wanted to speak to, I really hoped my child had dropped her attitude or I might just be forced to punish her accordingly. I took a deep, un-needed breath and reluctantly pressed the 'answer' button, preparing to face the inevitable.

"Pam"

"Eric" she replied "Where are you?

"Home. Why? What is wrong?" I asked, urgency rising in my voice.

"Oh" she answered sounding incredibly disappointed. "I was hoping that you would be in Bon Temps with Sookie."

"Pamela. I thought I told you not to interfere." I said, my voice hard but I was groaning internally, one more comment and I really would need to punish her, so I set my mind to finding a suitable form of disciplinary action.

"I didn't do anything. I was just commenting." Her voice becoming defensive.

"Pamela. Let me make this very clear for you, no interfering, no commenting and no voicing your opinion on the subject in any way, shape or form" I ordered making it as clear as possible. "You will work on the door at the club tonight" I finished, deciding that two nights in a row of dealing with the vermin deemed unworthy of entering Fangtasia was punishment enough.

"Yes master" she conceded defeat and remembered her place before I needed to impose a much harsher penalty.

"Now surely that is not the only reason you contacted me" I ended the topic swiftly, moving on to business.

"No" she deadpanned, all business now. "Victor Madden left a message for you last night just before dawn." I growled low in my chest at the thought of what Victor's call meant. "He called on behalf of King DeCastro. The king wishes to 'borrow our telepath'. Apparently he doesn't trust his Nevada staff with his finances. He also expects you to attend because there are some 'issues' that you and he need to address" she concluded.

"When?" I asked, straight to the point. I never was one for idle chatter, not even in my human life. And I was also slightly uneasy about the fact that Feliepe DeCastro wanted Sookie in his main territory. The fact that Sookie and I weren't in a good place in terms of our 'relationship' as Pam put it, wasn't exactly going to help either.

"Monday" She replied. That was two days away, great, now I had to speak to Sookie and convince her to go to Las Vegas with me by tomorrow night, so that we could leave the next day. I had better get started.

"Pam, call the shifter and notify him of Sookie's absence from work for all of next week and then let DeCastro know that we will be present in Las Vegas this coming Monday." I commanded, covering all of the bases. "I will be in Bon Temps, Sookie needs to prepare."

"Yes master" my child said and hung up the phone. I stepped out of bed and dressed in my usual black jeans and black T-shirt just in case I had to go into Fangtasia later tonight. I got into my corvette and sped towards Sookie and Bon Temps, wondering if there was any way I could talk some sense into her, that's if I could get a chance to talk to her before she rescinded my invitation.

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PLEASE REVIEW!!!


	4. Tears and pain

A/N: My sincerest apologies for this chapter taking so long to posted. I knew what I wanted but it just wouldn't get out of my head and onto the computer.

Thank-you so much for all of the support I have received for this story, it has inspired me to keep writing. And a BIG thank-you to all of the people who review and an especially BIG thank-you to my close friend Carlisle's grl, without you this chapter probably never would have been written!

PLEASE R&R everyone…yes that includes you

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Chapter four – Tears and pain

EPOV

As I pulled up out the back of Sookie's house I probed the edges of the bond, everything I could feel was incredibly faint but that was to be expected due to the block still in place. From what I _could _feel her emotions didn't seem to be ones of anger, defiance, resentment or even listlessness but I still didn't have a choice, this had to be done.

The second I opened the door to the Vette I caught the scent of seven human men. There was no breeze so I was able to smell each unique scent clearly, four of the scents were coming mainly from the woods surrounding the small farm house. I strode purposefully to the side of the house to inspect another of the scents, this one was centred around Sookie's bedroom window. _'They were spying on my bonded!?' _I thought and failed to suppress a growl, these men were going to suffer when I caught them. No-one watches my bonded without my or her knowledge, no-one. The final two scents seemed to be emanating from within the house itself, so I ventured in. Luckily Sookie was yet to rescind my invitation so I was indeed able to enter.

Once inside the house I followed the two strange scents to the back door, which seemed to be the point of entry. The back door hung only slightly ajar just enough that if I hadn't looked closely I wouldn't have noticed, the lock looked to have been picked and poorly too, there were scratches all over the outside of it. At least now I knew that whoever they were they weren't professionals, this was a small relief but they had obviously still managed to take Sookie and possibly the witch too. I could tell that the older witch had been gone for at least two nights. The scents lead into the living room where I could smell Sookie and the witch very strongly. There was glass everywhere and I found that the front window had been broken, most likely shot out due to all of the bullet casings scattered across the floor. Sookie's shotgun lay by the window, loaded and ready to be fired, the thought that my lover had put up a fight pleased me. _'My bonded is a brave and strong woman, she will fight and not let anything more happen to her' _I thought, knowing that no matter what had happened to her she was still alive and she would fight to stay that way, I have faith in my woman...no not _my _woman...just Sookie. I needed to stop thinking like that, she _can't_ be mine.

I plucked my mobile phone from my pocket and hit speed dial number 3

"Master" Pam answered her phone on the second ring

"Pamela, what took you so long to answer? Get to Bon Temps now!" I thundered into the phone, instantly irate as the gravity of the situation finally hit me.

"Yes master. And what may I ask is the problem?" Pam inquired completely oblivious to the intensity of my displeasure

"Sookie has been taken! Now stop asking questions and get here now!" I demanded of her

"Yes master" Pam replied hanging up without saying goodbye. I slammed my phone shut and shoved it back into my pocket before stalking back to my Corvette, leaning against the driver's side door and waiting for my child, trying not to think of what Sookie might be going through at that moment.

***

SPOV

I came to in almost complete darkness, the only light in the room seemed to be coming from a small barred window on the wall opposite me. I tried to sit up and _'Ouch!' _I thought _'What did I do to deserve that kind of headache?' _I tried getting up again, a little slower this time. My thoughts were a bit blurred and I tried to remember how I ended up in this...cell? Is that where I was? It certainly looked like a cell...and felt like one too. I ran my hands across the cold stone floor, but it wasn't smooth the way prison cells were supposed to be, and weren't there supposed to lights too?

I remembered gunfire...and...Oh my god the men outside my house! The one shooting at me and then Amelia ducking for cover and... Amelia! Where was she, what happened to her?! My brain was no longer in a fog, in fact it seemed to be moving a mile a minute. Slowly, okay, very slowly I stood up. Every single one of my joints ached as if I had just run a marathon, but now was not the time for crying over achy joints so I moved as quickly as I could (which wasn't very fast at all) towards the tiny window on the other side of the room. Once there I gripped the bars for support, I didn't know what they had done to me but I was certainly out of it, I could barley stand for more than thirty seconds without hanging on to something. If I was like this I shuddered to think of what they had done to Amelia in the time that I had been knocked out (and I had no idea how long that was, it could have been days for all I knew.) _'Stop whining Sookie and find a way to get out of here and find Amelia' _I mentally chided myself, so I ignored my pounding headache, sore joints, thirst, inability to hold myself upright and desperate need to use the bathroom and brought my face up to the bars to try and figure out where I was.

When I first looked out my eyes went totally blurry trying to adjust to the change in light, it only took a few seconds until I could see clearly but what I saw confused me even more. It was just a hallway made completely of concrete, or something like it. At the end of the hallway was a big door, I wasn't sure what it was made of but it sure looked heavy. There were no windows in the hallway just a single light bulb hanging by a string from the ceiling, there was nobody there but as I stood watching silently a man walked in through the door. I was right about the door it must have been heavy because the man struggled to open it, he was only young, no more than seventeen, he was tall and scrawny and had really bad acne. His short jet black hair was tousled, like he had just rolled out of bed and not even bothered to do anything with it, as he came closer I noticed some of the details I had not been able to see from down the hall. He had the most incredible jade green eyes that seemed...sad?... guilty?...even apologetic? Why would this boy feel sorry for me? I pondered that question for a few seconds, but then decided that I had better things to do than to wonder why this mysterious teenager felt sympathetic towards me.

Then I saw the gun slung over his right shoulder. _'Who in their right mind would give a gun to a teenage boy?' _I considered it but then realised exactly what kind of person would give such a young person a gun...a kidnapper of course. I grimaced at my foolishness, I wished my brain was moving as fast as it was before, that could be helpful in a situation like this. I was pulled out of my internal monologue by the boy's thoughts, which, strangely I hadn't heard until now.

_'I wonder how long they're going to keep her down here...Gee what time is it?...I'm hungry...Wonder what's for supper...That new girl is pretty...Why send me to do this?...I wanna go back to bed...' _The teen's thoughts weren't really helpful, pretty much the only thing that I had discovered was that I was underground somewhere, like I said, not very helpful. But if I could just get him to come a little closer maybe I could ask him some questions and actually find interesting details about my current predicament. The boy stopped in front of the window to my ah...room?...cell?...whatever and cleared his throat before pushing a small bottle of water between the bars and dropping it to the ground. I carefully leant down and scooped it up hastily unscrewing the cap and downing nearly half of the bottle in a few gulps.

"Zachary" I croaked, plucking the teenagers name from his head when I figured I could speak above a whisper. I instantly heard his thoughts turn confused and then frightened and when I peeked into his head I heard _'Oh crap', 'mind-reader' and 'witch'. _Who were these people? Just because I'm a telepath doesn't mean I'm a witch! Didn't they know that? I was just about to notify him of the difference when he spoke to me for the first time.

"I- ah...I mean I'm not supposed to talk to you" Zachary mumbled so quietly that I barley caught it. He didn't look up at me, only stared at his shoes the whole time almost as if he was afraid that if he looked me in the eyes I might put a curse on him or something.

"I know that Zach but I'm not a witch, I promise." I told him, completely honestly

"Then how did you know my name?" He asked still not meeting my eyes, but he was speaking a little louder at least. I struggled to find an answer that sounded normal and fumbled around in his brain looking for anything that might help. And then I found it, he had only thought about it in passing almost subconsciously, but it was there and it was exactly what I needed.

"I remember you from that little cafe on Lunar road, you're a waiter there right? Yeah I remember you now. You had a crush on that nice red-head sitting on the next table right?" I lied, sincerely hoping that it was enough for him to believe me. This might be my only chance so I crossed my fingers and waited for his answer.

"How did you-" He said blushing slightly

"Oh it was obvious from the way you looked at her" I answered praying that I was on the right track.

"Oh" Zachary muttered, glancing up at me and then looking straight back down as if he had been stung. "No, I- I _really _shouldn't be talking to you. I'd better go they'll be wondering where I have gotten to." He turned to retreat down the hall

"Wait Zachary, Wait!" I called but he didn't turn around and then he was out the door and I was completely and totally alone, with nothing but a half empty bottle of water. I sank down to the ground, tears threatening to roll down my cheeks. _'No-one is coming to find me' _I thought staring helplessly across the cell. Jason hasn't spoken to me for ages now, Bill wouldn't be back from Europe for at least two more months, Sam might have noticed that I hadn't gone in to work for however long I had been down here but I was doubtful, who knows what had happened to Amelia (I really didn't want to think about that) and Eric... Now the tears did fall. I wasn't anything to anyone I realised, I wasn't a sister, or a friend, even Eric didn't want me, all I was to him was telepath-for-rent and a one time lover.

And for the second time in a row, I cried myself to sleep.

***

EPOV

Ten minutes after I had hung up the phone on Pam she arrived in her pale pink minivan. Why she drives that infernal death-trap I'll never know, sometimes even my own child bewilders me. She hopped gracefully down onto the gravel drive and strode meaningfully towards me a mask of indifference plastered on her face.

"Took you long enough to get here!" I snapped glaring at my child

"Hey I got here in record time! It should have taken me at least twice as long normally and if I were to obey the speed limit it would have been even longer!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes she added, "Master just because you're in a foul mood due to _your_ Sookie's disappearance doesn't mean that you need to take it out on me."

"Pamela!..." I bellowed before realizing the truth in her words. "Pam" I said lowering my voice considerably "Let us not have this argument now, there are much more pressing issues to deal with at the moment. Like the fact that my lo- ...that Sookie is missing."

"Yes Eric, you're right. What is it that you wish me to do?" She asked submitting just as she should. I sighed and took a moment to order my array of thoughts before replying.

"I want you to see if you recognise any of the scents of the seven males that took Sookie, report back to me on your findings and I will then give you further instructions." I answered before wandering to the back porch and sliding down onto the top step. This was my fault. If I hadn't rejected Sookie so badly, if I had just given in to what we _both _wanted then she would have more than likely stayed with me that night and during the day, and she wouldn't have been here when those men came for her. She would have been safe... What am I thinking? This isn't my fault at all! Of course she wouldn't be safe! She would undoubtedly be in even more danger than she is now, that was the whole reason that I had denied us both. Being the bonded of a Sheriff is one thing but being more than that, being known as that important to me, that's en entirely different thing. It would be sure to put her in the firing line and I would not risk that.

"Eric?" Pam approached me somewhat hesitantly, interrupting my train of thought.

"Yes Pam, what did you find?" I asked eager to hear any news that could allow me any closer to finding my... my bonded

"I'm not sure..." My child paused, considering her answer. "I'm not certain but I think that I may have encountered at least two of these men before"

"Where?" I demanded, becoming impatient

"At the club, they seemed...on edge but I just dismissed it thinking that perhaps it was their first time in a vampire bar and they were nervous, or frightened, or something of the sort. But like I said, I cannot be sure. You know how the vermin are, their scents all intermingle with each other and eventually it is difficult to discern their scent from all the others on them." Pam explained carefully as if she were afraid that I was going to harm her.

"Do you think you could create an accurate description of them?" I queried, desperate to find these men and dispose of them...slowly. My fangs slid out to their full length as I thought about what I would do to the scum who had taken Sookie when I found them.

"Yes" She replied

"Good, do it and then place a call to Felipe DeCastro informing him that we will be unable to meet him in Nevada at his request." I ordered

"And if he asks..." Pam trailed off unsure about how much she was to tell the King of Louisiana.

"Explain to him that Sookie has gone missing, we are currently searching for her and are unsure of how long it will take to locate her" I said, purposefully leaving out what had happened between my bonded and myself last night. As to not alert him to the fragile relationship between us.

"Yes master" Pam answered diligently and moved with vampire speed into the old farm house, leaving me still sitting on the porch being completely useless. Then I felt something in the bond stir, it felt so good to have the bond totally open again, I had felt deprived of it after only one night with the block in place. I focused on the emotions coming through very, very faintly and tried to practically pull them into me with as much force possible. It wasn't very long perhaps only five minutes and in that time I felt a rush of many different emotions, first confusion then pain, curiosity, hope and frustration and then finally a wave of sorrow so painful that it nearly consumed me and so strong that I almost burst into tears right on Sookie's porch. Then all at once it faded and I could feel nothing but the hum of her life force through the bond which I hoped meant that she was able to escape whatever horrible situation she was in via sleep, if only for a few hours. She deserved at least a little peace.

_'Hold on for a little bit longer lover, I'm on my way.' _I thought, allowing myself to call her my lover one last time. Hoping that she could hear me and that she would listen to me, just this once.


	5. Haunting memories

A/N: Thank Eric for this chapter! (He helped me out...a lot)

PLEASE R&R!!!

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Chapter five - Haunting Memories

SPOV

When I awoke I was curled up on the floor underneath the window and the pounding headache had returned, though this time I knew what had caused it. The combination of crying for what felt like half the night and sleeping on concrete was sure to create some kind of pain. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep wanting to stay unconscious, it was much easier than being left alone with nothing but my thoughts to keep my company, (and to be honest they weren't very good company at the moment.) As I lay there trying _not _to think about what might be happening to Amelia right now, I heard the door down the hall creak and then click shut. I tried not to get my hopes up...and failed miserably. I pulled myself up onto my knees and then to my feet, clutching the bars I saw Zachary walking towards me, with a strange man. Zachary was staring at me with such a look of regret that my stomach flipped. He knew what was going to happen, what they were going to do to me. I slipped into his thoughts to maybe try to get a heads up.

_'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry' _was all I heard, repeated over and over again. I panicked what were they going to do? I shifted my attention to the unknown man. He was shorter than Zachary and solidly built as if he had spent hours in the gym each day, he had long brown hair loosely tied back at the nape of his neck and hazel brown eyes that had a dangerous glint in them, which caused my stomach to do back flips like it was auditioning for a gymnastics class. His facial features were sharp and angular and the scowl on his face looked almost permanent. His thoughts were erratic but all tinged with violence, they skipped from hazy images of a recent horse race to the much more vivid scenes of me, lying battered and bloody on the floor of my cell, surrounded by wood and fire. An ice-cold shiver ran down my spine when I saw those images in his head. He strode up to the bars of my window and gripped them right above where my hands were placed.

"Miss Stackhouse I presume" The man pushed his face right up to the bars when he spoke, so that I could smell his foul breath.

"What do you want with me?" I rasped my throat still sore. The man just laughed at me...no it was much to cruel to be called just a laugh, it was a lot more evil than that. I bit back a rude remark, managing to convince myself that it would only make things worse.

"You don't get to ask me questions you fangbanger whore!" He grinned, having way too much fun taunting me. How dare he call me a fangbanger whore! I'd only ever slept with two vampires and a were-tiger in my entire life, I was not anywhere near deserving of that accusation. "Yeah, that's right we know about your vampire...Eric Northman" My blood ran cold at _his_ name coming out of this murderous man's mouth.

"Who- Who are you?" I asked, needing to at least know who it was that was going to kill me before it happened so that maybe I could somehow send a warning to Eric and Pam. Pam because she was my friend (I hope) and Eric because even if he didn't think much of me I couldn't just let him walk blindly into danger, besides he had to send out the word in-case whoever these people were went after vamps and other supes in the area.

"You don't know? I thought that you would have figured it out by now, you do keep foiling our plans. In Jackson, though that was only a small operation. Rhodes was the real setback." The man grimaced as he recalled what had happened in Rhodes and so did I, for a much different reason though. I remembered the fire engulfing the hotel and Eric wouldn't wake up. I remembered the fear I felt for my life and for the lives of those most important to me, and when Eric finally woke and we threw ourselves from that window trying to save not just us but Pam too, the scent of burning flesh as Eric had experienced the sun again after one thousand years spent in darkness, and I remembered helping rescuers pull survivors from the rubble of the Pyramid of Gizeh hotel, the burnt and mangled bodies of Vampires, Humans, Weres and Demons being pulled out in pieces. All of these images flashed through my mind in rapid succession and I felt faint. My knees buckled and tears threatened to spill down my face but I pulled myself up, closed my eyes, took a deep breath and cast the haunting memories from my mind. Not allowing myself to shed one tear in my captor's presence.

I opened my eyes and stared straight at the man, wishing that the vampires that had survived that blast could know about him. I was never usually one for such violent thoughts but this disgusting creature standing in front of me deserved to suffer for all the death, grief and pain that he had, had a part in creating when he helped blow up that building.

At least I had my answer now, I finally knew who had detained me.

***

Amelia POV

I stuck out my thumb as another car came speeding down the practically deserted road and prayed that it would stop. I could barley walk anymore, not on a sprained ankle anyway. _'I must look terrible' _I thought as the car came closer. My shirt was pretty much destroyed by all the dirt on it, I was covered in bruises, dried blood was caked onto my forehead and I was limping down the side of the road trying to hitch-hike. The car was coming closer, and closer, and closer...and drove straight past me without even slowing down. That was the second time that had happened tonight, I mean seriously what was people's problem with helping out someone in need? Okay so I was a complete stranger but I just wanted a lift home, it wasn't like I was a serial killer or anything! I really needed to get home so badly, I needed to get cleaned up and find out what had happened to Sookie. I had to find her, God knows what those men had managed to do to her after they threw me out of their vehicle, their _moving _vehicle. I had to somehow get a hold of a cell phone and call... Who? Who could I call? Octavia was still in New Orleans, Bill was in Europe, Sam...Sam! I could call him, he could find a way to help! Great now that I had someone to call I just had to get a phone and a way home, not an easy task but I had to do it. If not for myself then for Sookie.

After about ten more minutes of dragging myself along the road, hoping that I was heading in the right direction, I couldn't take the pain in my ankle anymore so I lurched off of the road and curled up in as small a ball as I possibly could. Closing my eyes I vowed to rest for just a minute or two before I continued on.

When I managed to get up the energy to pull myself to my feet, I continued my journey down the empty street. Suddenly the ground in front of me was illuminated by a blindingly bright light that seemed to be coming from behind me, and then I heard the crunch of tyres on gravel slowing to a stop. I spun around as quickly as my injured ankle would allow and saw a bright orange truck stationed directly behind me. As I stood staring, the driver's side window rolled down someone stuck their head out.

"Hey, you need a lift?" A female voice asked from the truck "You don't look so good." I forced myself to limp over to the passenger door and look in. The middle aged woman reached over and opened the door for me from within the truck. The woman had short cropped auburn coloured hair and smoky grey eyes, she had a kind face that seemed so round that it looked almost cherubic and when she smiled she had perfect pearly white teeth.

"Thank-you, thank-you so much Miss" I said gratefully as I hauled myself into the passenger seat, wincing when I knocked my leg on the door frame.

"Sure but...uh...Are you okay?" She questioned, genuine concern showing on her face.

"No, not really but my friend is in trouble. Please Miss I need you to drive me to Bon Temps" I pleaded

"Of course" She replied seemingly shocked at my answer

"Miss?"

"Mrs. Bridges, Annette Bridges" She supplied

"Mrs. Bridges, may I borrow your cell?" I asked desperate to call Sam.

"Sure...ah..."

"Amelia" I said as she passed a small red cell to me. I dialled the number and waited, praying that he would answer.

"Merlotte's bar and grill" A familiar male voice greeted me

"Sam?" I asked

"Yes? Amelia?" He replied obviously oblivious to everything going on. I cried tears of joy at the sound of his voice, it gave me hope.

"Sam, oh Sam, thank god, you have to help" I begged and proceeded to explain everything I could remember, whilst hitching a ride with a generous stranger.

***

EPOV

It was faint, but it was most definitely there, the hum of Sookie in the bond, the feeling of being pulled to her, my bonded was calling to me whether she knew it or not. And I was on my way. I flew over the tarmac in my Corvette, pushing my beloved car to its limit, following the strength of the bond. I was moving as fast as I could towards Sookie but I knew that it wouldn't be enough, dawn would catch me before I could reach my destination. I pushed as much strength and will though the bond to my Sookie as I possibly could, she may have rejected our bond to begin with but I had to help her out somehow and until I found her, this was the best I could do.

Pam had alerted DeCastro to the current dilemma as I requested and the King had reacted with obvious concern, he wouldn't want to lose the valuable telepath now would he? The way that some saw Sookie disgusted me, they saw her as a simple tool and nothing else. Wasn't it obvious that she deserved more than that? She always did more than was asked of her and most of the time requested no repayment, and for what? To be lied to by Compton, betrayed by the Tiger, used by the King and her own brother? She cared too much about people whether they be her best friend or a complete mystery to her; she was always willing to help out at her own expense. She didn't even know _me_ that well when she took me in off of the street without a memory. Yet she willingly took care of me for several days, and shared her home, memories, bed and....heart with me. My Sookie was too sweet and good hearted for all these people in her life who had taken advantage of her, but she had courage, a strong will and a tough skin, she could take an emotional blow and move on. But she was also stubborn and when she had her mind set on something she refused to see reason, even if it was right in front of her.

Her emotions were slowly becoming stronger now, I could feel that she was confused and then shocked and sickened. Then anger so intense that I had never known Sookie to possess paraded through the link that we shared. I tried to send calm but her fury was the much more dominant emotion and I felt my fangs elongate as it influenced me. Any pain that they inflicted or intended to inflict on my bonded was going to go double for them, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

Dawn was quickly becoming much too close for my liking and I had no shelter. With a groan I realised what I would have to do, I had to go to ground for the day. I hadn't had to gone to ground in years and I was not looking forward to it, even the thought of it was incredibly unpleasant but it had to be done. So I found a suitable spot to rest, concealed my Vette and went to ground for the first time in many years.

As the sun pulled me under I forced my last thought through the bond.

_'Stay strong'_


	6. Good vs Evil

A/N: Okay my apologies for this chapter being so short but it just felt right so I left it. Anyway this chapter was kind of hard to write because the previous chapter didn't exactly go the way I expected, so I had to completely re-order this one. I'm not quite sure if this chapter actually turned out well, it kind of feels like a filler since not that much important happens but please let me know what you think!

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Chapter six- Good vs. Evil

Amelia POV

The friendly stranger Annette Bridges stopped in front of Merlotte's just as I had requested, and when I had managed to drag myself from her car to the staff entrance of the bar I wrenched open the door to find Sam standing in the hall with a look of concern on his face. I leapt into his arms relieved to have finally found someone familiar, someone that could help.

"God Amelia you look horrible" Sam gasped pulling me from him to get a good look at me. He shook his head and led me into his office, helping me down onto the soft leather swivel chair behind his desk before reaching into the bottom drawer and producing a small first aid kit. "You never know what will happen around here" He commented when I gave him a questioning look and I nodded understanding completely.

"Ah- Amelia?" came a voice from the door and I glanced up to see Annette standing nervously in the doorway. "Is there anything else that I can do for you before I go?" she asked giving me a small smile. How could this woman still be willing to help? She had already done too much and I couldn't take advantage of her good nature by asking any more of her.

"No thank-you, you have already done more than enough for me. Much more than anyone else would have and I'm really grateful, but I couldn't possibly ask for anything more." I assured her unable to truly explain how much I really did appreciate her stopping for me, any longer and I wasn't sure what might have happened.

"Oh I'm happy to help, but if you're sure..."

"Oh yes and thank-you again"

"Of course" She smiled, reaching into her bag and shuffling around in it for a while before presenting me with a small rectangle of paper. I took it and stared down at it curiously. "That's my number, just in-case you find yourself stumbling down an empty road again and need a lift. I live in Shreveport so I'm not all that far away." Annette told me before giving me a reassuring smile and beginning to retreat towards the door.

"Thanks" I repeated, wincing as Sam began to tend to my ankle

"I hope you find your friend." Annette said before disappearing into the hallway.

"She seemed nice" Sam commented, trying to keep my mind off of the pain while he attempted to arrange my ankle into a better position and bandage it up. "I think that maybe you should go to the hospital, this is pretty bad." He continued still working on my ankle.

"No, it'll be fine. We have to find Sookie." I answered him urgently "Did you find out anything?"

"No I tried calling her but she's not answering her phone and I was about to go and see if I could find out any information at the house when you arrived. Though it was strange, I received a call from Pam earlier tonight telling me that Sookie wouldn't be at work starting tomorrow night and that she wouldn't be back until next week. But...you don't think Eric had anything to do with this do you?"

"No, there's no way that he would hurt her" I replied certain that I was right, I wasn't sure what had happened between them last night when Sookie left me at the restaurant, but I knew that even if he hadn't had the guts to admit anything, he would never do anything to physically harm her. "Come on Sam, even you had to have noticed how acts around her. She doesn't even have to be there, you just mention her and his whole demeanour changes. You have to know that he would do pretty much anything to keep her safe, I'm sure you've heard the rumours."

"Yeah I've heard the rumours and I've seen the way they are about each other but Sookie doesn't want to be with him and I think that Eric would whisk her away just to get what he wants" Sam replied still wary of Eric. Sometimes I wondered about the observational skills of jealous men, I mean it was totally obvious that Eric was crazy about Sookie but he wouldn't do that, it would never win Sookie's heart to just take her that way. Sam could deny it all he wanted but the way I saw it Eric's infatuation with Sookie was here to stay.

"Sam, trust me he wouldn't do that. Even if he did why would he bother hurting me and then throwing me out of a car? If he had wanted to whisk her away he would have just waltzed on in and convinced her to go away with him." I wasn't sure if it would have worked but it sounded to me like something that he would do, Eric was always very...hands on when it came to his bonded. "Besides I suspect that Eric already had his chance." I added, instantly wishing that I could take it back. I _really _shouldn't have said that to Sam, it was Sookie's business.

"What? What do you mean 'Eric already had his chance'?" Sam questioned, his intense blue eyes snapping up to bore into mine as if he could lift the answer straight from my mind and sounding almost like he was interrogating me.

"Nothing, it's not our business. It's between Sookie and Eric. Why are we even discussing this? We should be trying to find Sookie!" I demanded quickly changing the topic and getting my most important issues in order.

"You're right" He sighed carefully pulling me to my feet and reaching for and umbrella resting beside his messy desk (it was strewn with piles of paper work, a calculator and a few pencils) and handed it to me to use as a makeshift crutch before running a hand through his strawberry blonde hair. "Are you okay to walk to the car by yourself or do you need help?" Sam queried already offering me his arm for support.

"No I'm okay" I replied leaning heavily on the umbrella and shuffling forward out of the office and towards the back door of the bar with Sam following along behind me. When I walked outside I barley registered the quickly brightening sky at dawn and as I climbed into his car I fervently hoped that Sookie wasn't in pain right now.

***

SPOV

_'Stay strong'_

The thought pushed its way to the front of my mind and I failed to find it's source while Zachary pushed a cling-wrapped sandwich and a banana through the bars of my cell. I crawled towards the window to collect the food and attempted to take the advice of whatever sound part of my brain had conjured up that inspiring thought.

"Zachary, when?" I asked wearily recalling the last time he had visited with that strange man, whose name I had failed to learn in the time that he had spent toying with me. The unknown man's parting words to me had been, _'Don't worry, it won't be long until we send you to the depths of hell where you belong.' _And the whole time that I had been left lying here on the floor of my dank cell I had been stewing on it, waiting for him to return and make good on his threat.

"Soon" He replied shoving another small bottle of water through to me and turning away, leaving me to eat what was most likely last meal in peace. As I chewed on the sandwich made of stale bread, butter and two slimy slices of ham I wondered if anyone had noticed that I was gone yet and how long it would actually take them to notice. I didn't know how long I had been there but I felt disgusting, I was still wearing the light grey sweatpants and too short white (now totally discoloured) T-shirt that showed part of my belly. I had thrown them on when I had gotten out of bed in a hurry to defend myself from kidnappers. Trust me if I had, had _any _forewarning that morning that I was about to be kidnapped then I would have definitely dressed more appropriately. Right now I was cold, dirty, uncomfortable, still had that headache and was living on a time limit. But on the upside at least they were feeding me, even if it was horrible, possibly off food.

I wondered how Jason would react when they told him that I was gone, or dead, either one. Would he be shocked? Would he lash out in anger? Would he bother to shed tears for me? Would he even care or would he just be completely indifferent? I couldn't even imagine what would be worse, for him to cry for the sister that he had used and ignored for too long, or for him to just move on like nothing in his life had changed, as if he wasn't the last Stackhouse. Maybe the whole world would move on like nothing had ever happened. Jason would continue his womanizing ways, Sam would hire a new waitress, Bill would keep travelling, Octavia would continue to live in my house, Pam would act as if she had never had a human friend and Eric... Well Eric would go back to fucking all the fangbangers he wanted. Not that he didn't do that now.

Amelia. I still didn't know what had happened to her; the disgusting man that had visited me ignored all of my questions. The ones about Amelia's whereabouts included. The one thing that I had learnt during that unknown mans appearance was who it was that had taken me from my home and imprisoned me in this cell, with nothing but an endless cycle of sleep and torturing thoughts to accompany me whilst I awaited the moment when someone would come, to end me. The Fellowship of the Sun. I never really understood how they could call themselves a church of God, not when they treated people like they were treating me. They had judged vampires the second that they made their presence known in the world, the Fellowship had even blown up a hotel full of vampires and their human counterparts, well that was what they new about. They were completely oblivious to the Weres and demons in that building though I doubt that would have stopped them. Most of the aforementioned Weres and demons were in the employ of some very important vampires. The so called 'church' had condemned these creatures because they were seen as different and frightening and because of these views the entire species was, in their eyes, evil. My experiences had shown me that though most vampires were at times devious double-crossers, some of them could actually have the capacity to care for something other than themselves. I had been saved by vampires many times (one in particular) and it just goes to show that perhaps the old saying is true, that you 'can't judge a book by its cover'.

When I had first seen Eric he had intrigued and scared me at the same time, if I had gone on my first impression I would have run and never associated with him again. In fact I probably never even would have asked him for his help in finding Dawn and Maudette's murderer, but I hadn't run and I had continued to associate with him, even if it was involuntary in the beginning. But after all I was the one who had asked him to accompany me to that terrible orgy, I had even asked him instead of Bill, who I had been dating at the time. I had trusted Eric with my life even then and he had continued to help me out even when he didn't need to, or it could put him in danger. He had staked Longshadow at one of our first meetings. He had followed me to Dallas and taken a bullet in my defence, then he had gone with me to Jackson, to Club Dead when Bill had left me and run off with his maker ho Lorena. Eric didn't have to help me save Bill, in fact I think that he wouldn't have even bat an eyelid if Bill had finally died. He had even given me his blood (though that was certainly no hardship for him). He had helped me rescue Tara from Mickey before she ended up dead, which was once again not Eric's problem but he assisted me anyway and even showed (some) kindness to Tara. The royal wedding between Sophie-Anne and the king of Arkansas was next, that massacre had been horrific and yet Eric had to be the hero there and protect me from harm.

The Blood-bond. That was the next time he had saved me from death or a life of living hell, he had offered himself as a substitute, as the lesser of two evils, even though he knew what would happen when he did. Then the bombing happened, we went through that together. I had risked everything to save him and he had defied his instincts to rescue us all. And most recently he had introduced me to my great-grandfather, I had found out that myself and my brother weren't the only ones left in our family.

All those things that Eric had done for me had led me to believe that maybe some vampires were capable of good things, even if they weren't capable of emotions such as love. Which he had so aptly demonstrated when I practically threw myself at him the other night. What was I thinking? I had humiliated myself by doing that, I should have known better. I could never be any more than a damsel that seemed to be in distress way too often, that just happened to be a great asset to his area and another woman to bed. He may have showed me kindness and helped me when I was in an awkward situation, but no matter what I did I didn't think that I could ever be truly important to Eric (in a non-political way).

_'I'm fighting a losing battle.' _I thought as I curled up on the cold concrete to try to gain at least one more hour of sleep before I had to face the inevitable...

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PLEASE R&R!!!


	7. Impossible thoughts

A/N: This chapter was really hard to write for me since I have never actually written any scenes this intense before, so please be understanding.

**VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:** In my previous chapter I mentioned that Sookie was wearing 'tracksuit pants' I would like to clarify that I actually meant sweatpants. In Australia we call sweatpants tracksuit pants or simply trackies. Please forgive me, I keep forgetting that I have to write like I am in the mind of an American and use the terms that they do. My Apologies once again. Enjoy this chapter!

**WARNING:** This chapter is rated M for violence. (This story is rated M for a reason people)

P.S. Sorry it's so short! But I couldn't make it longer.

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Chapter seven- Impossible thoughts

Amelia POV

Sam and I pulled around the back of Sookie's house and there was a small pastel pink minivan parked next to Sookie's Malibu, this instantly put Sam on alert. He stopped the car, slowly opened the door and slid out to investigate.

"Amelia!" He called and motioned me over to the stairs of the back porch. I carefully lowered myself to the ground from his car and inched toward him cautiously, aware of any danger that might still be lingering. "Amelia it should be okay. As far as I can tell Pam and Eric were here most recently and according to you they had nothing to do with this." Sam told me, still scenting the air every few seconds.

"The van?" I asked glancing at it nervously, the men who took us had vans. They had kept us in the back, Sookie didn't know, she was unconscious.

"Pams" he answered grimacing slightly. _'Pams?' _I thought, wow I had never seen that car before. Not even when we were dating! I couldn't help but giggle, I had known that Pam could be unusually girly but this was a little over the top.

"Well, if her car is here then where do you think she is? She can't just be wandering around, it's daylight out here." I asked Sam, only slightly confused. "You don't think she used the hidey-hole do you? And what about Eric?" I laughed out loud at the thought of Eric riding in Pam's minivan, it was a ridiculous thought. Sam seemed to consider the idea for a moment before moving in through the back door pulling me along beside him. We ended up in my room which was where the hidey-hole was located. I hobbled over to the wardrobe and opened the door checking to see if the contents had been pushed aside, but no, they hadn't been. "Bills?" I suggested.

"Probably" Sam answered, wandering out to the living room and surveying the damage. "They shot at you?" he asked noticing the bullet cases strewn around the room and raising an eyebrow.

"Yes" I whispered trying to suppress the horrible memory. Sookie had been so brave and I just hadn't been fast enough. I had been attempting to cast some kind of protection spell but I hadn't had enough time, I had only needed a little longer and I could have saved us. What had happened was essentially my fault, I was too slow. I had failed my friend, and it may cost her her life.

***

SPOV

The sound of my cell door being yanked open woke me from my restless slumber. I had barely enough time to open my eyes before I was lifted up off the floor and shoved against a wall. My back and head slammed into the wall with a sickening thump and the most intense pain rocketed through my body starting at the points of impact.

"Ugh" I gasped and raised my head to face my attacker. The unknown man that had come to see me last time stared back at me, his gaze full of hate. "Back?" I asked giving him noticeable attitude.

"Of course" he grinned "But let's keep that just between you and me." The man took a step towards me and swept his long hair back with a flick of his wrist, and reaching behind his back he added, "This is going to be fun..." Then his arms shot out and pinned my hands to the wall, I pushed against the restraints with all of my strength but this man was built, there was no way I could ever have any hope of fighting my way out of here. He pulled both arms up above my head and held them tight and still with one hand. He reached back and produced a thick rope and I thought, _'This is it, this is how I'm going to die. Down here with this scum.' _I pulled and fought against his grip as he tied my hands together, I begged and pleaded with him not to do this to me, I screamed and yelled and eventually my body just gave up. I had no energy left, they had only been feeding me enough so that I would stay alive, and not for any lengthy amount of time either.

I slumped down against the wall and the man, _'Joseph' _now the name was supplied to me by his disgusting brain. I protected myself from his black mind, it was one of the worst I had ever heard. It was like a snake pit, all of his thoughts venomous and poised to strike. Joseph dragged me by my hair to the middle of the room and threw me to the floor. I didn't care what he planned on doing but no matter what I wasn't going down without a fight. I kicked at him for all I was worth, a few of my most well aimed kicks actually hit him in the face but that only served to make him angrier and more vicious. Through my flailing he managed to lock my knees and ankles together, and knot some of the extra rope around them to hold them in place. My resolve about not crying in front of my captor broke away and tears streamed freely from my eyes. As Joseph left me on the floor and strode over to the bag that he had dumped in the corner I wondered if it would be quick. How would I be found? Broken and bloody or in one piece with a bullet or knife wound? Would I see Gran when I died? Wait what was I thinking? I couldn't just resign myself to this fate, it was about time that I put on my big-girl panties and faced this problem head-on.

Joseph turned toward me, a long serrated knife in his hand and grinned evilly, his eyes lighting up at the thought of making me scream for help. I squirmed at the sight of him. I gave him what he wanted.

"Help! Help me! Please!" I half screamed, half sobbed.

"No-one can hear you down here" He informed me, advancing on me at a steady rate, the blade clenched in his hand. I struggled against the ropes for dear life but I was bound too tightly and Joseph hoisted me up, holding me above the ground and clutching me by my throat. I let out a strangled scream and he squeezed, cutting off my air supply. I couldn't breathe, I panicked, and gasping for air and did the only thing I could. I kicked him right in the groin with my tied feet and it worked he dropped me instantly, I tried to wriggle out of the bindings and struggled toward the still open cell door. But Joseph managed to collect himself faster than I was able to make my escape and he dragged me back towards him by my ankles. As he pulled me by my feet I heard a sickening crack and heard a hair-raising scream, I wondered where the noise had come from for all of two seconds. Then I felt the pain hit me like a lightning bolt, straight from my left foot and tears rolled steadily down my face as I realized that the scream had come from my mouth.

Joseph bent down and retrieved the menacing knife that he had dropped in his moment of pain and traced it across my cheek drawing a thin line of blood behind it, and the salt in my tears intermingled with the open wound caused only more agonizing pain.

"Now, you're going to stay still or else not only will I kill you but I will bring down _everything_ I have on your vampire. And trust me not even he will be around to tell the tale." He growled at me very convincingly. If there was one thing I knew it was that Eric could handle whatever this man threw at him, but I didn't want to risk it. I didn't honestly know how big this militant group of tFotS was, it could have millions of members for all I knew. And I wasn't about to risk that many coming after Eric and the Louisiana vamps. "Oh and I forgot to mention that brother of yours...Jason right?" Joseph added with malice in his voice. Jason! He might be an irresponsible, stubborn, vamp-hating, womanizing bitten were-panther but he was still my brother. And as much as I disliked him at the moment I couldn't just ignore that, he was the only brother I had. Besides I knew that Joseph wasn't going to kill me...yet. So I stopped fighting his grip and clenched my jaw to hold back my screams as he mutilated my body.

Even though I was lying on the floor of my cell allowing my body to be ripped apart I still mentally scrambled to find a way out, any escape route. If only I could have alerted someone outside of the cell to what was going on right then, if only I had something like... _'The blood-bond!' _my mind screamed at me. I breathed a sigh of relief, I had never thought that I would be thankful for the bond I shared with Eric. But I had no idea what time of day it was, it could be the middle of the day for all I knew and if it was then there was no way that I would be able to get through to Eric when he was at rest. So I prayed that it was still night-time out there and sent all of my fear, anger and pain through the bond with the thought _'Come find me...Please.' _I couldn't believe that I had just mentally begged to Eric after what he had done to me, but honestly I would take dealing with Eric over this anytime. I clenched my teeth and tried to ignore the pain as Joseph bruised and tore open my skin.

***

EPOV

I started awake from my daytime stupor underground, knowing full well that it was still the middle of the day, but feeling Sookie's emotions incredibly sharply through the bond I could feel fear, anger and agonizingly intense pain. And when the thought _'Come find me...Please.' _ran through my mind I was so shocked that all higher brain function seemed to come to an immediate halt.

That wasn't my thought, it was obviously Sookie's. But...that was impossible...right?

I didn't have time to ponder that sudden, confusing revelation, I realized as I felt the pull of the sun tugging at my consciousness once again, and I vowed that as soon as first dark arrived I would find my bonded and deal with the disgusting swine that was causing this kind of reaction in her.

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	8. The deeply buried truth

**A/N:** A HUGE thank-you to **Vamp Winter**, who pointed out my mistake of incorrectly writing barely as barley much too often. Thank-you so much! These are the kinds of reviews I want from people...ones that help me out with my writing and improve my story. While I thoroughly appreciate the reviews that I continue to receive telling me that people like my writing and that I should keep going, I really want more suggestions for improvement and growth. Remember I am not afraid of flames and actually welcome them, so feel free to tell me exactly what you think of my story and point out any mistakes that I make, whether they be spelling mistakes or major character flaws, please, please let me know!

I would also like to thank my new Beta **Carlisle's grl**! (Who also happens to be someone I consider my twin sister in pretty much every way (except for our different parents))

P.S. I am so incredibly sorry this chapter took so long. And I know that there's no excuse but I have been swamped with homework and have been trying to keep up so that I can pass my exams. I will attempt to write faster in the future and hope that my readers can forgive me and not give up on this story!

Happy reading and don't forget to help me out by reviewing!

CG here just wanna say Team-Edward-addict has sent me this chap and I have read it but when I try to send it back it won't open for her so that added to the time problem. TX x

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Chapter eight - The deeply buried truth

Amelia POV

I could have screamed in frustration at that point. It was nearly 6:00 pm and Sam and I had tried so incredibly hard to find Sookie but to no avail. We had done everything physically possible; I had even contacted the generous stranger Mrs. Annette Bridges to ask her to take us to where she had found me the night before and she was kind enough to oblige. From there Sam had tracked my scent down the road to where the disgusting thugs had thrown me out of their car. That was where we were when I realized that Annette was probably wondering how Sam knew that that was the spot I had landed, I had to come up with a good excuse and fast.

"I- uh- Sam, he ah-" I stuttered attempting to come up with a half decent explanation.

"He's a shifter, I know" Annette laughed pointing towards where Sam was standing.

"Yeah well... Wait! You're- you're human how do you know about shifters?" I asked totally bewildered at how an average human woman could know anything about the supernatural world at all.

"I had this boyfriend once, just before I met my husband, he was a Were-bear" She explained "I knew he was hiding something from me from the start and eventually I got him to tell me, I'll admit I was more than a little shocked at first. I mean to find out that there are other things out there, things that humans don't know about. But soon enough I got used to it and now I don't even think twice about it. As long as I don't get on the bad side of a shifter I should be fine, right?" She directed that last part at Sam who was currently standing stock still in the area where he had told us that I was dumped. He stood still for a moment longer seemingly contemplating his answer before speaking.

"You're right but I don't think that you should be so free with that information, even around shifters. Some of them would get a bit uncomfortable and take it the wrong way if they think that others of my kind are going around just telling humans about our existence. So just be careful about who you tell, whether they be human, shifter or otherwise." Sam warned Annette sternly.

"Oh okay thank you for the advice, but ah you won't take this the wrong way right? I mean you're okay-"

"No, I'm okay, but just be more careful next time"

"Oh sure" Annette looked relieved, and as I looked at her I noticed that her cherubic features were even more prominent in the light of the setting sun. Her round face with the sunlight hitting it just right to put her in the most flattering light ever (I was slightly jealous at this and wished that I could look that good in that light), small nose, smoky grey eyes and dazzling smile, coupled with her cropped auburn hair all combined to make her look as if she was some kind of relative of Cupid's.

_'Wait!' _I thought _'Sunset?'_

"Sam have you found anything?" I asked in a rush

"No, there's nothing real important here. Nothing that will help us find Sookie" He answered, not noticing what the sunset meant.

"Sam it's sunset, Pam will be rising soon. She was at the house last night, maybe she can give us the information we need" I informed him. We really needed to talk to Pam or Eric but the fact that it was the middle of the day hadn't exactly helped our cause. Sam's deep blue eyes flashed in realization and he moved toward Annette's car at once, with the two of us girls following behind.

***

SPOV

Joseph left me lying on the floor in a pool of my own blood. I was covered in bruises; every inch of my body was obscured by an angry black bruise or sliced open and caked in blood. Every movement, every breath, was torture. I shifted my left leg to try and throw off this pain, if only for a moment, and was rewarded with a stab of excruciating pain straight from my foot. _'Broken...' _I remembered, allowing a single tear to escape and slide down my bloodied cheek.

I wondered how much longer I had, I knew my execution wasn't far away Joseph had let me know that I wouldn't have to wait long. Though at that time I was a little incapacitated I distinctly remember him saying _'Now we just have to wait for the sun, your time is ticking you pathetic little fangbanger.' _I guess it all depended on what time of day it was now. Maybe they were planning to do it at dawn or dusk or who knows it might even be midday. I had planned on escaping at some point but now it seemed that that plan was out the window, there was absolutely no way that I was getting out of here with the injuries I had sustained during Josephs torture.

I remembered the way that he had laughed at me as I tried to drag myself away from him as he destroyed my body with his knife, his hands and his feet. Though once he had begun I didn't scream, I refused to give him that kind of satisfaction. I winced again as my mind conjured up the sound of the bone in my foot breaking and replayed it over and over. I shivered and howled in pain at the resulting pricks of agony that I received from every single part of my body. If that was the kind of pain I got from a single shiver then I was doomed when they came for me. I couldn't even stand let alone fight them off.

I drifted in and out of consciousness for a while after that, constantly in a state of pure torture and the next thing I knew, I was being dragged out of my cell by the scruff of my neck and hauled out into the last few rays of the setting sun.

***

EPOV

I rose determined to rescue my Sookie. All I could feel through the bond was pain, sorrow, anger and disgust and it did nothing but spur on my own rage. I didn't even bother with my car, I flew. Sookie was close and I knew that flying to her would probably be faster. I was flying at full speed and pondering how to kill these deranged captors when I felt a sudden burst of fear from my bonded. My fangs immediately snapped down and the possessive monster inside of me reared its ugly head. Someone was hurting her, she was scared and the person who was doing this to her had just incurred my wrath.

And I was so close...

***

SPOV

Two pairs of hands grabbed me from behind and I screamed in agony as they bound my hands behind my back with a piece of thick cord and dragged me across the ground. Rocks and sticks on the ground collided with my head and back surely giving me even more bruises (if that was possible) and causing me to constantly cry out in pain. The two people pulling me along threw me into a dark room, the only light I could see came from a tiny window about three feet above my head.

"The clothes, take them off." I heard from the doorway and I looked down at my tattered sweatpants and too-small shirt. My mind was still foggy from my brief nap and I blinked to try and force it back, wondering what they would do to me if I disobeyed _'I mean, they're going to kill me anyway' _I thought, so I slumped down on the floor of the dark room, closed my eyes and stayed there, waiting for them to react. It only took a few seconds but those seconds were bliss, it was so quiet and I could have almost fallen asleep, but then a strong hand pulled me up and tore my shirt from my body causing me to wince and left me standing there in my sweatpants and an old black bra.

"I said, take them off!" A man's voice growled at me

"I can't," I argued "my hands" The man sighed and stepped even closer to me, his hands reached down and I yelped as he yanked down my sweatpants revealing my panties. Another person standing at the doorway threw something to the man; in the dim room I could just make out that it was a piece of material. The man grunted and circled around to the back of me.

"George you have to untie her" The male at the door said

"I thought I said no names you idiot, and I know what I'm doing." George hissed and I felt his hands on my wrists. _'Oh lord, please make it quick' _I thought, wishing for at least an easy painless death. But even as I thought the words I knew that it wouldn't happen. If I wasn't in so much agony I would have fought back, but I just didn't have the strength _'Still isn't it at least worth a try, I can't go down without a fight. I need to let these guys know that I'm no push over; I'm a Stackhouse I have to fight back, At least a little.' _I reasoned, slowly convincing myself that maybe I could resist. Just maybe if I was strong enough I could have a chance of escape, even if the odds were against me.

I braced myself, ready to attack as George finally managed to loosen the cord and slip it from my wrists. As soon as I was released from my makeshift cuffs I spun around as fast as my injuries would allow, drew back my arm and slammed my fist into George's gut as hard as possible. At that moment everything happened very quickly but for me it all seemed like someone had hit the slow-motion button on my life.

George doubled over clutching his stomach and I heard the man from the doors mind click and I knew he was about to try to take me down but I was determined not to let him. He wasn't going to get the best of me, not on Sookie Stackhouse's watch. I turned with my arm thrown back, ready to hit him in the face if I could manage to get my aim right. The man charged toward me and when I thought he was just about the right distance I let loose and my fist flew through the air, connecting with what felt like his shoulder. I grimaced as I heard a bone crack unsure of whether it was his shoulder or my finger, either one I was sure that if I lived I would definitely be feeling this in the morning. I heard him grunt and regain his footing, then I felt George's hands on my arms, he had recovered from the blow I had dealt him and now he was restraining me. He pulled my arms behind my back as I felt the mans fist crash into my chest, knocking all of the air from my lungs and leaving me gasping as George let me go and I crumpled down onto my knees.

"Bitch" the man spat and returned to his post by the door. I did nothing but try to force more oxygen into my lungs. Then George's hands were on my body, pulling the piece of material that the man had thrown him earlier over my head and pushing my hands through holes in the fabric. _'It's a dress' _I realized wondering why they would bother to change me out of my sweatpants and into a dress if they were just planning on killing me.

"Get up" George snarled hauling me to my feet and pulling me along behind him out of the dark room and into the setting sun. He dragged me around the back of the building where I had attempted escape and I saw a group of at least thirty people, some of them men, teenagers and even women with their children. When I saw the crowd I suddenly understood, they weren't just going to kill me, they were going to execute me. Publicly, in front of a whole crowd of FotS worshippers. But there were children here! I had thought that even these religious zealots had enough decency to leave innocent children out of this. Turned out I was wrong. I looked past the crowd that were there to witness my death and saw a pile of wood arranged almost in the form of a bed, with a flat wooden surface in the centre. _'Pyre' _the word drifted through my mind and I shivered wishing that I could die another way, burning to death was going to hurt like hell. The pyre looked like it was wet and as George pulled me closer I registered that it smelt like a gas station, eventually I got my brain to function enough to piece these two facts together and came up with the conclusion that they had poured gas over the wood so that it would burn faster and as a result I would die quicker.

When we reached the pyre George pushed me down on top of it and began to secure me to it despite my frantic struggling. The cord he was using to tie me down cut into my skin and the more I attempted to wriggle out of it the more it slashed at my body. I turned my head to the side just in time to see two young men carrying flaming torches and I looked at them with pleading eyes, silently begging one of them to see reason and let me go instead of sending me to a fire-y death for no other reason than the fact that I associated with vampires. They both stared back at me with condemning gazes and stepped closer as if sealing my fate. _'This is it' _I thought.

As I watched the last rays of the sun disappear below the horizon and the torch bearers lowered their flames I used my last thoughts to say goodbye to everyone I cared about. Jason, my only brother who hadn't always been good to me but if I was in any kind of trouble I knew that I could call on him at any time and he would be there at a moments notice. Sam, who had looked past my reputation as a freak in the small town of Bon Temps and given me a job, even though I could read his mind and most recently brought a lot of trouble into his bar and his life, Sam had always been there and would have done anything for me, I loved him just not in the way that he wanted me to. Amelia, who had gone through so much with me in the short time that we had been friends, and she, like Sam, had overlooked my telepathy to become my friend not because of what I could do but because she liked me for me. Bill, who had been my first ever love, Bill who I had given my virginity to and then ended up betrayed by him, but no matter how much reason I had to hate him I just couldn't, he was the first ever man to truly care about me and for that he would always have some small place in my heart. Pam, who had come to be my friend somewhere along the line and I her only _human _friend.

And Eric. As much as I hated to admit it Eric had been the only one that was constantly there for me ever since I had become involved with vampires, I had to admit that I had cared for him and when he was cursed and it came very, very close to love. But then he had remembered who he really was...the big bad Viking vampire Sheriff of Area 5, Shreveport, Louisiana. He had broken my heart, I had spent days crying, almost grieving for him like I had just lost everything that had ever been important.

That exact moment, tied to a pyre and about to die, was when I finally admitted the deeply buried truth to myself; I loved Eric, I loved him with all of my heart, it had always been him...and it still was. I let out a heart-wrenching sob as I realized that I would never get to see him again, I had only just found out how much I truly loved him and now I would never get to see him, to tell him, to touch him, to show him my love.

It was with this revelation that I watched Joseph, standing in the crowd, smirk at me one last time

...and then all hell broke loose.

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